2019 European Championships

Javier Fernandez Finishes Career with Seventh
European Title

by Klaus Reinhold Kany

(26 January 2019) The menís competition at the 2019 European
Championships in Minsk, Belorus had a mixed level. In the short
program, the 12,000 spectators in the Minsk Arena, which is sold out
every day, saw see many good or excellent programs. But in the long
program many skaters faltered. One goal of the judging reform of
2018, however, was reached, Skaters with few or no serious mistakes
are rewarded and those with several falls and serious mistakes are
punished.

EuropeĎs ďSkating Kingď Javier Fernandez from
Spain had often announced that he will finish his ISU career at this
European Championships. He had skipped the whole Grand Prix season,
but crowned his career in Minsk with the seventh title in a row,
this time with 271.59 points. After the short program to ďMalaguenaď,
however, he did not look like a winner because he was only third and
nine points behind the leader. His combination was a quad toe loop
and a double (instead of a triple) toe loop, his quad Salchow was
judged under-rotated, he stepped out of the triple Axel and he did
not skate in high speed in some parts. His components were around
9.3.

A bit of bad mood came through in the press
conference when he criticized the jury, ďIíve been away quite a bit
this season but that doesnít mean Iíve gone through my whole life.
Iíve seen mistakes today in figure skating Iíve not seen in my whole
life. I donít know if they forgot Iím still a figure skater, but [I
hope] somehow they will get their minds together for the free
program because I think that was a great short and they didnít show
it in the result. I had three weeks training in Toronto. Definitely
three weeks was not long enough time to prepare for one competition.
I had a cheated quad Salchow today that was not [cheated]. I saw it
on the ice and it was not. So thatís why judges have slow motion. I
donít what it means [has happened] in these ten months, but Iím
surprised.ď

After his long program to last seasonís music ďThe
man of La Manchaď his criticism of the jury was forgotten even if it
was not perfect. He began with a combination of quad toe loop and
triple toe loop, but stepped out of the triple toe loop. His quad
Salchow and both triple Axels were excellent and the triple loop
very good. Instead of tripling the flip he performed only one and a
half rotations. The rest of the program was excellent, therefore his
components went up to an average of 9.4.

He commented, ďIím glad it was here and Iím glad
I competed. I feel a bit sad because it has been 21 years training
for competitions, but it was the time to retire. I will skate for
other things but not for competitions. But at the same time I was
happy Iíve done a great career and I was able to accomplish much
more than I thought I could accomplish. I think itís good for the
world to know that not only skaters from strong countries can
appear. I hope I can develop skating more in my home country to try
and make it bigger, but I hope Iíve made history and in 20 years
some people will still recollect my name.ď

Alexander Samarin from Russia won the silver
medal with 269.84 points. He is no artist but mainly a jumper.
Therefore his components of around 8.8 in the free program were too
high. His combination of quad Lutz and triple toe loop in the short
was impressive, but he stepped out of the triple flip which had been
planned quadruple. The triple Axel and the other elements were very
good. He said, ďI got an unbelievably warm reception from the crowd
and that was really cool. I was going for the quad flip but I think
I didnít have enough experience in competition.ď

He started his long program with a quad Lutz, but
stepped out of it. The quad toe loop and the first triple Axel were
good, the exit of the triple loop a bit shaky, but four more triples
very good. GOEs of +2 and +3 dominated. ďIt was tough emotionally
and mentallyď, he explained. ďObviously, you want to be among the
leaders and this is a big responsibility. I tolerated the physical
pain until the end of my program. I made many mistakes, there were
shaky landings. I really admire Javier Fernandez, Iíve watched him
on TV since I was young and as this was his last skate Iím happy for
him that he could skate so beautifully. But Iím also happy I could
make him a bit nervous.ď

The bronze medal for Italian Matteo Rizzo,
winning 247.08 points, was a big surprise. He had been tenth in a
short program with a clean triple Axel, a triple Lutz with a small
step out and a good combination of triple flip and triple toe loop.
He said, ďI am a little upset because I missed the first
combination, anyway I managed to put in on the second jump, but itís
a big mistake. Then I rested a little more during the step sequence
to get the combination right.ď

Rizzo arrived in Minsk with a
new free program to a Queen medley instead of a Rolling Stones
medley. He began with a excellent quad toe loop (four GOEs of +4), a
jump which had always caused him problems up to now. The first
triple Axel and five more triple jumps were good, but he stepped out
of the second triple Axel. The very dynamic step sequence near the
end had five GOEs of +4. His components were around 8.1. Right after
his program he explained, ďWe had the idea
to change the program because I didnít really feel that the previous
one was 100 per cent mine. We changed it two weeks ago and already I
feel much more comfortable with this one. Even after just a few run throughs I felt much better with this music.ď

More than one hour later he
commented, ďOf course there are a lot of
emotions inside me, as going from tenth to third place was kind of
incredible. Iím really proud of myself and the work that all my team
have done. It brings a lot of joy and emotions so Iím really happy
about this. It was very unexpected because I was first in the third
group so 11 skaters had to skate after me and I had to wait. It was
a big surprise for me.ď

Kevin Aymoz from France, who
trains in Florida, finished on fourth position with 246.34 points.
He can move excellently on the ice and has a very good feeling for
show and extraordinary positions and effects. His components had an
average of 8.4. His quad toe loop in the short program to
ďHornsď
by Bryce Fox was clean, the combination of triple Lutz and triple
toe loop very good, but he stepped out of the triple Axel. Highlight
was his step sequence which included a sidewise kind of Salto which
is not forbidden. In the free program he fell on the quad toe loop,
but five of the seven triple were very good. The step sequences were
highlights again.

World bronze medalist Mikhail Kolyada from Russia had taken the lead in an excellent short program
with 100.49 points, a very good combination of quad toe loop and
triple toe loop, an outstanding triple Lutz, a good triple Axel, a
stellar step sequence and outstanding spins. His components were
around 9.3 and he was nine points ahead of the rest of the field.
But his long program to ďCarmenď was a disaster and he dropped to
fifth place with 240.87 points. He fell on the quad Salchow,
performed a very good quad toe loop, fell badly on the triple Axel
and injured his left arm. After another fall on the triple loop, a
triple toe loop was good, but he popped the second Axel. He said, ĄI
fell on the Axel and it started to hurt. I donít know what happened,
but maybe it is broken. But no matter what happens, I wanted to
skate the program to the end.

The second Italian Daniel
Grassl, only 16 years old, finished on sixth place. He is the first
European skater to perform a clean quad loop, even in both programs.
Most lower skaters made many mistakes. Czech skater Michal Brezina,
who trains with Rafael Arutunian in California,
sits seventh with 234.25 points. Alexander Majorov from Sweden takes
eighth position, gaining 225.38 points. Israeli skater Alexei
Bychenko, who has never been in good shape in this season, is ninth
with 220.50 points and Morisi Kvitelashvili from Georgia is tenth
with 219.79 points. Russian champion Maxim Kovtun made five serious
mistakes in the free and ended up only 14th with 216.18 points.